August 2024
Hello, my dear friend,
We’re still not done with renovations (we’re replacing tiles with hardwood floors). Everything takes longer than we estimate and at every step there are some setbacks, but we’re almost there! We also had two small vacations in the past month, so I can’t complain! Through it all I kept drawing in my small sketchbook and made a couple of patterns. Let me show you!
This month’s illustration is inspired by walking in the nature at the high of summer. I tried to capture the sweet smells, the heat in the air and the warm open attitude of the summer vacation.
Patterns
I’ve been meaning to make a pattern like this for a while now: an illustrated story to cover an entire wall.
A bit like a mural, I guess, but in a repeating pattern form. I settled on the theme of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. I started by choosing the scenes I wanted to illustrate and sketching out the layout. Building a trailing repeat pattern like this is something that truly speaks to me - having the branches flow into each other in an endless dance, beautiful!
You can find this pattern through Spoonflower and Redbubble.
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I once saw some paintings of rolling hills landscapes in unexpected colors and thought I would try my hand at a pattern in that style. The only problem is that I had to choose to omit the sky, but I find it looks good nonetheless.
You can find this pattern through Spoonflower and Redbubble.
Finally, I’ve made a Christmassy pattern, because summer is the time to do that, right?
I chose a simple botanical theme - mistletoe - and remained faithfull to my favourite brush of late. This pattern is also available through Spoonflower and Redbubble.
Sketchbook
My small square sketchbook is still going strong, or I am going strong with using it! I often forget to draw in it during the day and find myself ready to go to bed when I remember to do a small drawing. I grab the first subject that speaks to me and it has happened more than once that that was my foot. My rule is to draw anything from observation, so feet are as good a subject as any. Drawing from observation is in this case such a relief for me. My mind mostly puts pressure on me to create something imaginative and original all the time so that it feels freeing to follow the lines and angles of a subject and recreate it on paper the best I can.
I also drew a bit in my digital sketchook. It’s hard to beat having all the tools in one compact package!
We walk several times a day, now that the weather is so kind. Here is a beautiful shot from one morning. When seeing such displays from nature my mind gets quiet.
I’ve been changing things up in my studio again. The space would probably benefit most from in-built furniture in order to make use of all the weird nooks and cranies. But then I would be deprieving myself of the fun of rearranging furniture!
Finally, I have a digital wallpaper for you this month as well, and the password to access it you can find in your inbox. To get my newsletters, you can sign up here.
That’s it for now, I leave you with warm wishes and till next time!
Find all my patterns and illustrations below:
Drawing is not about what you see as much as what you can make others see.
I am an artist and illustrator who believes in the power of images to make people happy. I’m most known for my colorful cards and patterns depicting people, flowers, and animals, in a sensitive and feminine style using flat simplified shapes.
I live in Beersel, Belgium, and I like to go on long walks with my little dog, Luther.
